Rollei 35 S

Mary and I were running some errands this afternoon. We went to the post office, the gas station, and the library. Our last stop was the local Goodwill store. And as you can see, I found something interesting!

This is a Singapore-made Rollei 35 S. It's basically a point-and-shoot camera but it does not have a rangefinder. That little window opposite the viewfinder is for the photocell. Of course, the camera is inoperable. It doesn't wind. The shutter doesn't work. And inserting a new battery didn't get the meter working either. A trifecta!

One side of the hot shoe (located on the bottom of the camera) is bent inward probably from the camera having been dropped. Also, it shows signs of hard use - lots of dirt and some external corrosion.

I located a user's manual and a repair manual, but I'm not sure I want to get into this one quite yet. It's ten pounds of s**t in a five pound box. The thing is incredibly dense. I had to find that user's manual simply in order to get the camera open. Those pesky Germans designed it with a back that slides off toward the bottom. Release that latch next to the tripod mount, and the back slides off and down.

But I couldn't pass it up at the price - three bucks, and that included the leather case embossed with the Rollei name, and a tiny lens cover, it too with the Rollei name molded into the front.